London Buses Route 116
London Buses Route 116 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Hounslow and Ashford Hospital, it is operated by London United RATP. History Route 116 commenced operating on 1 December 1924, when route 117A running between Hounslow garage and Staines via Bedfont renumbered 116A. Each different destination had its own suffixed number and the number 116 was reserved for the summer Sunday variant that ran between Hounslow and Ascot via Staines, Egham and Virginia Water at the same time. There were also summer weekday afternoon extensions to Virginia Water as 116B. In September 1927, an all-year Saturday afternoon extension to Egham as 116E. The Ascot extension last ran in 1933, the Virginia Water one in 1935 and the Egham one in 1936. On 8 April 1936, the route ran daily between Hounslow and Staines, with an extension on summer Saturday afternoons and summer Sundays to Windsor Castle via Runnymede and Old Windsor. In 1939 the summer extension was only to Old Windsor, and there were no summer extensions in 1940 to 1945. From 25 May 1946 to 9 October 1960, the Old Windsor buses operated on summer Sundays. Sunday was the busiest day of the week for this route, with buses every 6 minutes to Staines and every 12 minutes on to Old Windsor. Buses were not allowed along the unlit Windsor Road in Runnymede during the hours of darkness, and so the last bus beyond Staines was progressively earlier as the autumn nights drew in. On 9 May 1962, the route was extended eastwards on weekday daytimes from Hounslow, via Kingsley Road, Great West Road and Chiswick High Road to Turnham Green, and on to Hammersmith on weekday peaks and Saturdays. On 31 December 1966, the Saturday service was only as far as Turnham Green. On 15 June 1968, Monday to Friday off-peak service was withdrawn east of Hounslow and the peak service terminated at Hammersmith Met Station. On 18 June 1969, the Saturday service terminated in Hounslow. Between 1 January 1967 and 17 August 1969, the Sunday service was operated as route 116A, which ran from Staines to Hounslow and then via Lampton and Heston to Cranford. On 18 September 1971, the route was converted to driver-only operation, the AEC Regent III RTs being replaced by single deck AEC Swifts and the weekday peak service was withdrawn beyond Boston Manor Road and diverted in order to serve Brentford County Court; the turn into Boston Manor Road was difficult and the route was almost immediately diverted via Windmill Road before the Brenford terminal was changed on to the Great West Road junction with South Ealing Road. In 1976, the AEC Swifts were replaced with new Leyland Nationals. On 24 April 1982, the weekday peak extension east of Hounslow was withdrawn. On 29 January 1983, a joint weekday allocation with route 203 was introduced. By now the service beyond Bedfont to Staines was only hourly and buses changed between 116 and 203 at Staines. On 14 April 1984, there was a summer Sunday extension from Staines to Thorpe Park. On 9 August 1986, the route was passed to Westlink operating from their Hounslow Heath (HK) garage using Leyland Nationals. On 10 August 1991, the route passed to Tellings-Golden Miller with ex Midland Fox Leyland Nationals. The service was extended from Hounslow to Brentford, via London Road, but withdrawn between Bedfont and Staines. After 66 years there was no longer a direct route between Hounslow and Staines. On 23 February 1992, the route passed to London & Country using East Lancs Greenways. On 27 November 1993, the route was reinstated between Bedfont and Staines. On 31 August 1996, the route was transferred back to London United operating from their Hounslow (AV) garage using Leyland Lynxes and was withdrawn between Ashford Hospital and Staines. In 1998, the route was converted back to double deck operation using MCW Metrobuses. In 1999, the MCW Metrobuses were replaced by Leyland Olympians. In 2001, the route was converted to low floor single deck operation using Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. In September 2006, the allocation was moved to Hounslow Heath (HH) garage. In 2008, the route was retained by London United. On 15 August 2015, the route was converted back to double deck operation using brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LHs. On 29 August 2015, the route was retained by London United. The allocation will be transferd to Hounslow (AV) from 21 March 2020. Current Route *Hounslow Bus Station *Hounslow Heath *North Feltham *Bedfont Green *Ashford Hospital External links * London Bus Routes Gallery * Full Timetable (PDF) 116, London Buses routes